Deepak Chahar took six wickets for seven runs as India beat Bangladesh by 30 runs in their third and final Twenty20 match to win the closely fought series 2-1 on Sunday. Chasing a winning target of 175, Bangladesh was bowled out for 144 in 19.2 overs as India rallied after losing the opener.
Medium-fast bowler Chahar needed only 3.2 overs to destroy Bangladesh, including the last three wickets. Bangladesh opener Mohammad Naim smashed 81 off 48 balls with 10 fours and two sixes before he was bowled by Shivam Dube (3-30).
Earlier, Shreyas Iyer and K L Rahul smashed half-centuries to propel India to 174 for five. It was a maiden T20 half-century for Iyer (62 off 33) and the sixth one for Rahul (52 off 35). Iyer’s entertaining knock came after he was dropped on 0. Bangladesh skipper Mahmudullah followed the template set in the series by winning the toss and opting to field. India made an unexpected call by dropping a bowler in Krunal Pandya for middle-order batsman Manish Pandey.
The hosts were dealt a body blow in the second over when pacer Shafiul Islam removed their skipper Rohit Sharma (2), who had made a sublime 85 in the series-levelling win in Rajkot. Rohit tried to whip a length ball but only managed to get an inside edge on to the stumps.
Rahul joined Shikhar Dhawan (19 off 16) in the middle and with both the batsmen under pressure having not made an impact in the first two games, the situation provided them an ideal platform to deliver. Dhawan, who has found it tough to accelerate of late, got going with successive boundaries off Al-Amin Hossain. Rahul too began his innings in similar fashion, going for the aerial straight drive before punching Islam through point.
However, Dhawan could not last long after hitting four boundaries, mistiming a slog to be caught in the deep by Mahmudullah. India once again could not get to a good start batting first, struggling to 41 for two in six overs. It would have been three down at that stage if Aminul Islam had not dropped a regulation catch off incoming batsman Iyer at backward point. Rahul and Iyer gave a much needed boost to the Indian innings with a 59-run stand. Rahul completed his 50 off 33 balls before getting caught at mid-off two balls later, leaving India at 94 for three in the 13th over.
Iyer, who made a sedate start to his innings, went ballistic after Rahul’s departure. He was especially brutal against the spinners and hit three successive sixes over long-on off Afif Hossain.
Rohit breaks another Dhoni record
Rohit Sharma was in tremendous form in the second T20 as he smashed 85 off just 43 balls to help India level the three match series 1-1. During his knock, Rohit Sharma smashed 6 sixes taking his tally to 37 sixes in 17 innings, the most by an Indian captain in T20I cricket. The record was previously held by MS Dhoni. The former Indian captain had 34 sixes in 62 innings. Virat Kohli, who is not playing in the ongoing series, trails behind Rohit Sharma with 26 sixes in as many innings.
